Paradoxical Ends
by Pii
Summary: Once being told that the solution of saving the world was in the hands of his students, Kakashi went back in time repeatedly until he could meet that one good end. One-shot. Time-travel fic.


**Paradoxical Ends**

 _CLANG!_

The two genins clashed at the Valley of the End. Orange and blue. The two panted as they gasped for breath. Charging chakras on each of their hands, and then running towards each other. Screaming each other's names on top of their lungs. Neither wants to give up. The sky was darkening, clouds had collected.

Soon the rain water would drop, as if the sky was crying over their fight.

The hitaite was fallen to the ground, scratched. A pool of blood started to form as they keep oozing out from the wounds. On that day, two boys have fallen on the battlefield. Neither of them breathed once the rain has hit the downpour.

They weren't able to reconcile as friends, their friendship and life ended just like that.

Tears of a certain pink-haired girl couldn't stop pouring on the day she found out the death of her two teammates. Not by enemy, not by missions, but rather by each other's hands. The masked teacher just stayed in silence of his yet another failure.

It was a simple crack in time, however, during that day the fate of the world itself has doomed.

* * *

The world was led to a certain bad end, with no one able to fight back. There were no heroes, no happy end. Everyone was put to endless sleep, unable to tell the difference between fake and reality. However, during that crucial moment, a small glint of hope was there.

Just before he got caught in the slumber, a man used a forbidden technique. Upon hearing about the hopes were so close to his grasp, he decided to protect them. Hoping to make a difference, he departed. Sent by the name of sage of six paths, under the name of shinobi, he vowed.

* * *

The two genins clashed at the Valley of the End. Orange and blue. Tired and beaten up, the two gasped for breath. A sound of lightning cackled and the sound of wind was too. After the two attacks collided, one of them has already fallen. The other one, with raven hair, only watched. Soon he fell to his knees and started coughing blood.

He stared into the closed eyes of the blond for a while, before charging yet another lightning on his arm. He raised his arm high to the air, before striking down to his partner's chest with a blow.

Blood splattered all around, a hole was formed on his chest. A certain teacher and girl appeared on the scene. Shocked at the sight they found, the girl began screaming until she fainted. The teacher would pursue the young man, but soon he found him to be gone.

The girl was angry, and she started seeking for revenge. The cycle of hate was spinning, and she would found herself soaked in the blood of the friend she just killed. The girl stared in disbelief. She screamed and cried like there was no other day tomorrow. She was broken. She didn't want to fight anymore. Regret was all over her face.

* * *

Sakura ran between the two boys. Her friends were fighting on the top of the hospital roof. She screamed on top of her lungs, hoping the two of them would stop. Instead, both of the attacks pierced through her body and destroying her into pieces.

Both Sasuke and Naruto gasped at the sight before them, knocking them back into their senses. Naruto was the first one to react. It took him quite a while, but he started crying. Meanwhile Sasuke was only watching in disbelief. He began holding into his eyes, it began to hurt like it was burning. Soon when he would reopen his eyes, one could notice it was craved in an entire different pattern than how it was before.

Naruto would stare in disbelief, and trying to punch the raven again. Only to be stopped easily by one hand of the other boy. The boy then left, only to be chased later on to the point he decided to burn and destroy everything that was on his way. He would live his life in grief, sorrow, and hatred. He could care less for anything else in this world.

He would not care when a certain organization was rising and decided to make havoc into the world. He would only do what he wanted, as long as he gained what he wanted. He was broken enough, to the point he would laugh like a maniac when he pierced through hearts of people he killed.

The boy that was once innocent, has then decided to let the world fall into the darkness in his own hands.

* * *

Naruto stared at his hands. They were red-soaked by blood. It didn't hurt. It didn't hurt at all. They weren't his. Not that they belonged to any strangers, even. A sixteen years old raven was lying down in front of the kneeling sixteen years old blond. He was not breathing at all. It took the blond a few minutes to register what was happening to his brain.

Once he was confirmed that it was not a nightmare, tears began pouring out from his blue eyes. He screamed on top of his lungs. His body began to transform to what one would call a demon, and his clawed hands trying to rip out his eyes and hairs. He was sad, he was angry. He began hating himself even more.

Wood began warping all over his body. A certain letter was shown on his face. They managed to stop his transformation, but the boy was shaking all over and crying nonstop. He started to lose his mind. They managed to restrict and hold him back from doing anything harmful to others. He cried himself to sleep, and they brought him to the hospital to be taken care of.

Once he woke up, he began trashing all over again. Screaming and doing self harm. He would grab some scalpels, knifes, kunais, anything he can use to kill himself with. They had to restrain him from doing such a thing. His teammate could only cry seeing the condition of her remained friend.

Many days, they would try to talk to him out. Hoping he would be back to the happy-go-lucky self he used to be. Each word only deepened his pain and reminded him of the past. Soon he was becoming too reserved to accept someone to talk with. He would still trash. He didn't bother to train anymore. He had quitted everything about being a ninja.

Defenseless and vulnerable, the jinchuuriki of the nine-tails was easily captured. Not even when he was raging out of his stress level was a threat to the organization. Uzumaki Naruto cried. His heart was crying until the end of his life.

* * *

They would try it again and again. As another team was formed, both Naruto and Sakura were heading out into the mission, hoping that this time they would get their friend back.

One could guess how their reactions were when they looked at a face that no longer belongs to their friend, as it was being used by another man in the age of fifties.

Rage was effulging from the two. Who then would lose control in maintaining their emotions and launched attacks without thinking of any other. Tears had fallen, and the name of their friend was mentioned over and over. They just couldn't stop.

No one could maintain their anger. The two has lost their mind. They care of nothing anymore. It was only a matter of time until the two destroy themselves from their emotions.

* * *

The three were not allowed to join the exam. The kids protested at the sentence. There were no rules about forbidding them from joining. Nobody explained them the reason. They just couldn't. They had to take other D-rank missions. It was so boring, they claimed. At first he was glad, that forbidding them from joining was a right choice. Because that way no one would be after Sasuke and no one was there to tear their friendship apart again.

However, he was wrong. It was easier for Orochimaru to target Sasuke because he was out of safety range. Sasuke was taken, and his friends had come into a panic sprint. Without anyone to back things up, they only had each other. Apparently, the skill of two genins and a jounin was not enough to be up against a snake sannin and his underlings.

Not only that, the mad scientist also find interest on what resides inside Naruto's body and take the boy with him.

Reinforcements came a bit too late as they were too focused on creating a perfect chunin exam for the students. The mission had become a sudden S-rank. They would try their best to retrieve the last holder of Sharingan and jinchuuriki. But in the end, they only could retrieve a dead body of the former jinchuuriki as the beast has been extracted, and seeing the body of their best genin used by the none other of Orochimaru.

It was a bad and traumatizing day for Haruno Sakura, and the rest of the Konoha.

* * *

Naruto was taken by Akatsuki, and the village was destroyed. If only they were training him better back there, maybe he wouldn't get taken in the hands of the leader of Akatsuki the second they raided an attack on Konoha.

Sasuke would come to Konoha, only to further the destruction that was left to the village. Konoha was no more. Only dirt and sand could be seen on the destructed field. Sakura has moved away, along with the other villagers, finding a new place to stay. Suna was kind enough to let half of their populations stay and resides in there. Their Kage would mourn in the loss of Konoha's jinchuuriki. They had tried going to the base, in hoping the Kyuubi hasn't been extracted. However, none of them stand a chance against the members of Akatsuki.

The world was once again doomed. He sighed as he yet warped into another timeline.

* * *

It was a certain dead end if any of them die or captured. Plus, as a teacher he would like to see the three of them together again. It was a hard wish, but he is trying.

Naruto and Sasuke were never fond of each other, and the two would fight any time of the day. Sakura only cared for Sasuke back then. What would he expect? They were kids; kids that would save the world one day in the future. They were his students, his children. He would like to see them together just like back in the days.

He would start over again, starting from their first meeting. Sometimes he started over during the chunin exam, and sometimes after that. Sometimes he started over before their departure to the Wave. Making sure everything was perfect on the next timeline.

He tried to make sure they were close as ever, keep giving tests about their closeness in hoping their friendship would not be ruined this time. He tried to teach them good this time, so that none would die for nothing. It was bond and train all over. He tried. He had tried really hard.

It was never an easy quest, sometimes Sasuke was dead. And in some others Naruto was. Sometimes Sakura was the dead one. Sometimes it was two of them or maybe all of them at the same time. Kakashi had escaped right before his own death many times. Because if he was gone, who else is going to go back in the timeline to fix all of this?

It was causing a paradox, but he doesn't care as long as the world is saved and the three of them could be together again.

He was tired. Sometimes even giving up that the three has a chance after all. But he promised, he promised that one day Team Seven would walk together in a same path again.

* * *

He didn't know if anything would work well on this one. Sasuke has left the village again. And Naruto has gone training with Jiraiya. Sakura trained herself to be a better ninja with Tsunade. At first he worried it would led just to another dead end, but he decided to give it a try. He would train Naruto again after he was back, to make sure this time he could stand for himself when Akatsuki attacked again. So far there was nothing bad happening, but Sasuke hasn't returned at all… So far there was no sign of his children going crazy or dying again, but he was not to take any chances.

He thought it was all over when he was dead in the middle of the battle, thinking there would be no more resets if he failed in this one. However, Naruto had turned the table upside-down as he defeated Pein and made him revived everyone in the village. He was surprised. He slightly felt a hope in his chest, that this time he would make the perfect timeline. However, if it was not, Kami-sama has given him another chance to leap to the past again because he was given another life just when he thought his life has ended.

He would not show things much on his face, only calm and steady. He wondered if his students suspected him to be hiding something this big from the world. They were not stupid, after all.

Naruto was later revealing the true face behind the masked man, and Kakashi was surprised to find out it was his childhood friend. If only he had known all these time, he would be returning way beyond the past to fix the actual problem. However, that would make yet another paradox, and who knows if it was going to make another dead end? This one has not reached its dead end yet, so Kakashi hoped. He hoped and would not give up on this one until it really reached its dead end.

It gave a shock to his whole body when he found out Sasuke was not over fighting Naruto. They were so close to be saving the world, only to then cut into this. He was worrying that once again the three would split apart. He chased the two along with Sakura to the Valley of the End, at the place the two would settle things once and for all.

* * *

The two men clashed at the Valley of the End. Orange and blue. The two had bled and beaten up. They panted as they gasped for breath. Neither wants to give up. Their eyes were so fixed on each other as they fight. Words weren't that needed as they understand each other by their fists.

They were beating each other to death. They gave it their all. Too stubborn to stop using fists and reverts to the calmer way. Their final blow has destroyed the entire Valley. The fight was ended at the cost of both of their hands. However, the two smiled. They were finally talking to each other again just like friends they once were. Their blood were forming a single line, telling they've been finally connected to each other.

Both Sakura and Kakashi arrived into the scene, surprised at the sight before them. Both of them were still alive. They there were, heroes and idiots of the world. Sakura landed just before them, crying as she healed up their wounds.

Kakashi just watched. He had thought he had to do it all over again. The three students of his were talking just like how they once were. Once Sakura was done healing them, they would finally reconcile as one and free everyone from their trapped fates. The paradox has finally reached its true end. He was no longer bound to do this paradox. He finally has completed his missions, and on top of all, he finally seen his students reconcile again.

Smiling, he covered his left eye. It has been used too many in order to help him performing the jutsu whenever he reached a bad end. That forbidden justu wouldn't be used again, at least for this time.

"Finally,… they're back."

 **End**


End file.
